Then Juan Rivera and Gary Matthews Jr. made the skipper look like Nostradamus by going out and hitting solo homers in the early going.

Those were enough for the Angels, who proceeded to ride the four-hit pitching of lefty Joe Saunders to a 3-0 win over Seattle, giving the Angels three of four from the Mariners this week.

The third and final run came in the eighth when another potential producer of an improved slugging percentage, Howie Kendrick, homered as well.

Slugging percentage is perhaps the best reflection of how high a percentage of a team’s hits go for extra bases. For the Angels this year, extra-base hits in general and home runs in particular have been at a premium, so the club ranks in the bottom third in the American League in slugging percentage.

Scioscia believes the low ranking is a blip based on a relatively small amount of games played – in this case 40 out of 162.

“We’ve got potential for a lot better slugging percentage,” Scioscia said. “Bobby Abreu hasn’t homered yet, but he will. And Rivera and Matthews will pick it up. There is more hidden in this team.”

And that doesn’t even mention the probable return within the next few days of Vladimir Guerrero as the DH. He won’t be able to play in the field because he can’t throw, but Guerrero insists that he’s fully capable of swinging for the fences.

So Rivera, who was subbing for the injured Abreu (left big toe) and batting third, tied into a two-out pitch from Mariners starter Erik Bedard for his third homer of the season in the first inning.